Every account is assembled from what survived, by someone who already knows the ending. That single fact makes events look more inevitable than they were — and explains why careful history sounds less certain.
A rising power wants influence matching its strength; an established one sees each concession as erosion. Both are sincere, neither needs to want conflict, and the pressure builds anyway.
Most commentary is about which leader decided what. Constraints — geography, resources, neighbours, demographics — explain the menu of realistic options, and they outlast every government.